Fridge / One-Punch Man

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Fridge pages do not have spoiler warnings, as per policy! Read at your own risk!

Fridge Brilliance

• When Saitama begins to experience the thrill of a good fight in the first episode of the anime, you can hear his heart beating. What do we hear when Boros goes all out?
• Garou decided to become a monster because he always figured the monsters try harder, and he was particularly angry because:
  Garou: The popular will win, the hated will lose. It's such a tragedy.
  • And what is Saitama? A hated hero who never loses.
• Many of the hero names are a little on the nose in describing a hero's defining physical characteristics or character. Many of them are hardly flattering and do not sound like something someone would choose to call themselves like "Rednose" or "Death Suspenders". The reason this is so is because the Hero Association assigns all hero names and many of their functionaries are hardly the most competent of people.
• Even before he got his monstrous strength, Saitama was still the one punch man: when fighting the Crablante in his flashback, he only needed one attack to finish him off.
• The relationship between King and Saitama is this somewhat. Saitama usually laments being someone who can never find a challenge, but with King he always loses at video games. King may not be the hero everyone thinks he is, but when it comes to games he's as good as Saitama is at being a hero. He may even be the Worthy Opponent Saitama was looking for, even if it's not at fighting.
• The webcomic's artstyle is a limitation of ONE's draftsmanship, but it also works in the story's favor, as it evokes the same reactions as its protagonist. It's a good comic, but people who aren't interested (or outright avoiding it) just look at it and think "there's no way that this deserves this much attention" and might even doubt ONE's ability to draw. Which is exactly the kind of response Saitama gets In-Universe.
• The entire series is based around Saitama's incredible strength and his ability to destroy seemingly unkillable enemies with a single blow. His One Punch attack is clearly overpowered... you might even call it an OP attack...
• King is touted as the World's Strongest Man, feared by most monsters, and even Tatsumaki is hesitant about confronting him. Yet he is ranked 7th among the S-class heroes. This is because he rarely does actual hero work, or to be more precise, he doesn't go out a lot to do hero stuff like slay monsters. And since hero rankings are based not only in strength, but also in accomplishments and popularity (which is why Child Emperor is ranked so highly, despite being one of the weaker S-Class heroes, and why Flashy Flash is ranked so low, despite being one of the strongest members of the S-Class), King's rank is simply a testament of how popular he is and of the accomplishments he's done so far.
  • One of the first things that Saitama "teaches" Genos is the importance of mental fortitude and an indomitable will. In the anime, his source for this impromptu lesson is a book written by King, whose mental fortitude and indomitable will are the entire reasons why he can still be a considered a hero beyond his public status.
• Saitama claims that the secret to his power was doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and running 10 kilometers every single day for three years. This is actually a pretty moderate exercise for the average person and nothing compared to the training athletes and soldiers experience. Genos even points out that normal humans wouldn't be able to attain Saitama's level of strength through this method. However, remember that before Saitama became a hero, a man was able to transform into a crab monster just by eating a huge amount of crab. In the world of One-Punch Man, it seems that things like emotion, willpower, and desire are what grant someone their powers, not any specific training or outside forces. Suddenly, Saitama's story makes perfect sense.
• During the physical portion of the examination, a character remarks with horror that Saitama may have the power of a god residing in him. At first it seems like hyperbole, an exaggeration of the display he put on. Until Genos later explains that "God" is the most extreme ranking that can be given to a threat. A threat that can destroy all of humanity. Considering the others in the exam would have more knowledge on the workings of the Hero Association, they weren't just exaggerating. They were actually stating that Saitama has world-ending power and would be classified as a God-level threat if he were evil!
• The Sky King being killed by Melzargard and replaced with Boros might have been more than just a simple Bait-and-Switch. Since he was the conqueror of the universe, one could consider Boros the true "ruler of the skies".
• Mumen Rider not advancing to B-Class can actually work in his favor seeing how C-Class heroes have to do some heroic deed or else they'll get kicked out of the Hero Association. It provides an incentive for Mumen Rider to continue being a hero since that restriction doesn't apply to the other ranks.
  • It could also be because Kamen Rider, the character Mumen Rider parodies, is known for its Monster of the Week format.
• Why does Genos frequently use a older flip phone compared to the more impressive touch screens out there? It could have something to do with the fact that he has no fingerprints or human fingers anymore.
  • Or it could be just another of the series anachronisms: Genos is easily one of the highest-tech heroes out there. He could potentially just integrate a phone into his systems, but he still uses decades old technology for his everyday use. So, the highest tech hero uses the lowest tech solution for his daily needs. This fits with the overall theme of the series quite well.
  • The other reason is that it's provided by the Hero Association either cutting corners or being cautious. In real life, the military still uses flips phones because they can't be hacked for sensitive information. The Hero Association is also corrupt and we only see executives use smart phones indicating favoritism.
• While used as a one off gag, the fact that Speed of Sound Sonic failed to become a monster proved a point. The comic takes a literal and figurative definition of the term "monster". Even though Sonic wants to become a monster, the fact that he cut apart and cooked the cell showed that he is too civilized to be a monster. He won't eat raw, living flesh like an animal. Anyone who has the characteristics of a monster will easily transition, but Sonic can never be that kind of person because he has a heart. This reflects the previous page where Bang wonders if Garou knows what it means to be a monster. This is all rather clever foreshadowing to the fact that Garou isn't and can never be a monster. As in the original webcomic, Garou has too much humanity in him to be the monster he wants to be, just like Sonic.
• The "Serious Series" might seem like a cop-out at first ... until you look at the animation for Saitama's normal punches. His form is completely wrong and he doesn't show any physical strain; for an ordinary person, it'd basically be the equivalent of slapping someone with a closed fist. By comparison, his "serious punch" is properly thrown and has real force behind it.
  • To further emphasize how different Saitama's regular punch is from his Serious Punch, every time Saitama punches something with his regular punch, it looks as if he's merely extending his arm and hitting the target with a closed fist without any visible effort behind it, like throwing a half-assed jab. His Serious Punch has the form of a properly thrown punch (slightly bent elbows before attacking, punching power coming from the hips and legs instead of just the arms) and seems to be one he practiced multiple times because its motions are smooth and precise.
• It seems odd that Metal Bat began as a C-rank hero since his stats make him qualified to start out as a high B to A-rank at least. However you also notice that his intelligence is a 3. The second part of the hero exam is a written part to test your mind. Saitama broke every record in the physical test but barely passed the written one so it makes sense to conclude that Metal Bat had a similar situation.
  • It also makes sense that Metal Bat is only at his strongest when he's injured. The more injuries he has, the more fighting spirit he has. The entrance exam is NOT designed to hurt the applicants. Therefore, Metal Bat probably half-assed the physical portion as well. He dresses as a stereotypical Japanese delinquent, so it makes sense that he would barely pass the written exam, too.
• Gyoro Gyoro reveals that for humans becoming monsters, being on the verge of death gives them an explosive boost in power if they can overcome it. This could possibly explain why Saitama is so unfathomably powerful because during his three years of training, he was on the verge of death almost every single day!
• All S-Class heroes have varying degrees of Super-Strength, Super-Toughness, and even enhanced agility in some cases, as Required Secondary Powers, with the sole exception of Tornado, Metal Knight, and King. However, the reason why these are never brought up, beyond the fact that Saitama’s insane levels of strength, invincibility, and speed overshadows them all, is because they are a byproduct of the training they endured to hone their specific skills, rather than as a result of getting stronger for the sake of getting stronger.
• King's hero name sounds pretty on the nose at first, but once chess-motifs are applied, it goes one step deeper. The King-piece in chess is the most treasured one in a chess-game. It's protected by all the other pieces, especially if the King is put in danger by the opponent's pieces. Also, if push comes to shove, it can eliminate the opponent's pieces from the game by itself, but only if the piece in question stands right in front of the King and not in a checkmate-square, while unprotected by other pieces. The opponent is always deathly-wary about going after the king-piece, due to the high risk of other pieces rushing in to take the assailant out or lose the piece to the King if put on a sacrificial spot. Marking how the King-piece is both the weakest and yet the strongest piece on the board, sans the queen.
• Why does Saitama bother with remembering Sonic's name at all? Because despite what he says about Sonic being a "pest", the ninja has survived multiple "fights" with him, which is far more than any other opponent Saitama has faced in his life up to the present day. Of course, he would bother with remembering someone like that.
• One-Punch Man can be abbreviated as 1PM, which is technically the same as 001PM. Now flip over 001PM and you get MP100, the commonly used abbreviation of Mob Psycho 100, which happens to be ONE's second most popular work.
• Saitama thinking the "Hero Name Victims Association" will cause a great power struggle is somewhat of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy since they are now technically the strongest group due to him joining.
  • It also sets up the plot point for him eventually being renamed as the "One-Punch Man", a name he will hate because he rather his battles not be ended in one punch.
• Fuhrer Ugly's attacks are all needlessly cruel, disfiguring his targets beyond recognition. This is because of his ugly Ugmon heart, which seeks to make other people ugly just like him. He smashes Sweet Mask's prized face, and he crushes Tanktop Master's prized body.
• Genos' training under Saitama seems pointless considering that, as a cyborg, he can't exactly train to get stronger, and all Saitama can offer is advice and state-of-mind stuff. But as we see in most of the fights he loses, it's not actually because he lacks power; he tends to get distracted or assume victory too early leaving himself open. His biggest obstacle to getting stronger IS a state of mind issue.
• The fact Sweet Mask and the Ugmons like Fuhrer Ugly turned out entirely different despite the source of their monster transformations being exactly the same, their deep-seated issues over being unattractive, seems rather odd, except there is one key difference: the Ugmons became jealous and hateful due to their appearance, while Amai Mask just resolved to be beautiful on the inside and be a good and just man to compensate for it, and in both cases their new monstrous forms reflected who they were inside, which also partially explains his outlook of Beauty Equals Goodness. He saw first-hand cases of someone becoming beautiful because they were good, while he saw others become (more) ugly because they were evil.
• Not only does Genos get more upgrades over the course of the series, but he also learns from his mistakes and becomes a more seasoned fighter. After getting attacked from behind by Saitama, he uses the same strategy against Sonic. After failing to stop Sonic's fastest attacks, he halts Awakened Cockroach using a new adhesive trap. After getting torn in half by Mosquito Girl, he manages to slam his body back together when Elder Centipede does the same thing, rather than giving up and self-destructing. After getting trashed so many times by massive physical blows, Genos gets a "modern art-proof" upgrade that helps him retain his exoskeleton easier. The list goes on. It's even easier to tell in the manga, where Murata draws panels with explicit callbacks to bring to mind Genos' earlier encounters and how he has grown to handle them better.

Fridge Horror

• Vaccine Man doesn't get much credit as a monster, being the very first enemy we see Saitama effortlessly defeat. But if you really look at him, you'll see that he was one of, if not the most powerful monster the Hero Association had ever faced up until that point. His light ball explosions were absolutely gigantic, and he had advanced physical strength and durability that put him a step above the similar monster Homeless Emperor. This is explored in the bonus chapter Witness in Volume 15, where the chaos and panic caused by Vaccine Man are truly shown. Then there's his transformation — who knows what that could have done. If it weren't for Saitama, he would have been an enormous threat that likely would have required someone like Tatsumaki to take down.
  • The same goes for Beefcake/Marugori. The guy was so unbelievably gigantic, even dwarfing giants such as Orochi (though his size fluctuates, sometimes being incredibly exaggerated in the anime such as his footprint) and he could destroy entire cities with the mere swing of an arm. He would have definitely required several S-Class to take down.
• During their battle Boros kicked Saitama so hard that he was sent flying to the moon. The odds of Saitama hitting the moon were extremely low (about one in 200,000), and if he hadn't, he'd just keep flying away from earth forever. And since Saitama does need to breathe, he would suffocate and die.
  • Space isn't a complete vacuum. Someone as ridiculously overpowered as Saitama could literally swim in there.
  • On top of that, Saitama held his breath because he assumed he needed to. Given what actually happens if a person tries to hold their breath in a vacuum, it seems the laws of physics and biology don't really seem to actually apply to him. So maybe he doesn't need to...
  • We later see Saitama rocket his way back from outer space using some intense flatulence to chase Garou, so... he probably would have been okay!
• The fact that Saitama walks into every fight knowing that he can tank planet-busting blows like a light breeze across the cheek should terrify the audience, but the truly terrifying question is how does he know this?!
  • It's also terrifying thinking how strong his punches might be. His serious strike parted the sky. And that's only after it was used to stop a planet-bursting attack, meaning that it's power was considerably lessened. And, if Boros was right, Saitama didn't even strike as hard as he could. But that's not the worst, the worst is that this would still be just one punch, but his chain of punches is explicitly called "normal multiple punches", implying there's a serious version of that one, too...
• Saitama is one of (if not THE) most powerful beings on the planet. He can destroy anyone and anything with a single punch and he chooses to use this power for good. But what if he chose to be a villain instead...? You get another Boros, only this one can't be beaten.
  • Garou comes fairly close to this. He's one of the biggest parallels to Saitama the series has to offer but whereas Saitama wanted to be a hero when he was a kid, Garou wanted to be a monster. Prior to facing Saitama, he was able to defeat every hero he fought, which included more than half the S-Class, and that's without the use of his final transformation. The thing that's more "fridge" than just regular horror is that his Hero Killer title is hyperbole; he never actually killed anyone. If he had actually made an effort to finish off his targets, especially in his "unfair evil" form, every hero except for Saitama and Zombieman would probably be dead.
    • Garou isn't even comparable to Saitama, since he fights a fair fight with Metal Bat and a team of S-Class heroes, especially one including Tornado, could dispatch him
    • The troper was referring to webcomic, where Garou kicked ass and had a fair fight with Saitama.
  • Going back to Boros, recall that he scoured the universe for over 20 years in search of a Worthy Opponent before finding Saitama, who still beat him easily. Is there no one in the entire universe who can possibly fight Saitama?
• Speaking of Zombieman, he has From a Single Cell regeneration with no apparent means of keeping him down for good like Melzalgald. So, much like the protagonist, he's functionally unstoppable. He could potentially have been one of the most nightmarish creatures ever conceived and being a product of the House of Evolution, it's a miracle he wasn't. Hell, had he not stopped when he did, Genus could have easily created another immortal being and made it a monster instead (he already had infinitely respawning octopi).
  • Word of God states, that if Zombieman was to be beaten into a pile of meat pulp, he would be unable to pull his body back together and die.
• Phoenix Man's Brilliant Eagle Mode in the original version of Chapters 99-100; specifically his resurrection-buff ability. If he gets healed and becomes stronger every time he is brought to the brink of death, could he eventually become a God-level threat? It even matches the description for breaking a limiter, so could he even remove his limiter and become as powerful as Saitama? If not for Child Emperor cleverly exploiting his costume as a weakness, he might've been a huge problem. Not to mention his King's Awakening Light, which can resurrect others around him too. Could he bring back the rest of the cadres like Elder Centipede and Gouketsu? Carnage Kabuto? Marugori? Boros? It could be true carnage. This may even be part of why Murata decided to redraw the whole scene and cut this form for the volume release.
• The world ''One-Punch Man'' takes place in is pretty horrifying when you really think about it. Monsters and villains emerge on a weekly basis, some of which have the power to destroy entire cities and kill thousands of people. In the very first episode of the anime, the giant Beefcake appears and kills tens of thousands, flattening an entire city in a single blow, and the incident is only mentioned once after that, while showing the slow and extensive repairs to the city. Considering how much destruction we see throughout the series, it seems pretty likely that hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of people die every year due to Demon and Dragon-level threats. Of course, this being One Punch Man, the effects and implications of this are never really explored, but living in a world where you could get killed, lose loved ones, and/or have your city destroyed at any time seems pretty terrifying.
  • The world's backstory was also revealed by Sweet Mask in Chapter 119 of the webcomic. He explains that originally, the world was made of many different nations, not unlike our own. The nations fought multiple world wars with each other over natural resources, and eventually it got so bad and killed so many people that they all decided to make up and band together to preserve the future and prioritize the future generations by creating a unified language and a world government. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the effects of these wars continued to harm the world. As a result of the world wars, toxicity rose, which eventually gave rise to monsters and other dangerous natural conditions, which destroyed all of humanity save those living on the main supercontinent where the series takes place. The civilization in One-Punch Man is a post-apocalyptic last stand against the hostile natural forces of the world, which were created and/or provoked by humanity's own hubris.
  • Given that Vaccine Man stated that he was created by the Earth to wipe out humanity, and Homeless Emperor was only granted his powers from "God" when he decided to give himself back to the Earth through suicide... Yeah, it's not unlikely that "God" and the Earth are related if not the exact same thing and it wants humanity dead. Badly. So badly that it's sending multiple insanely powerful monsters to wipe us out and it's not stopping. In fact, Saitama hitting the moon (making it look like the eye of a god) and Orochi being sacrificed to "God" on the altar in the planet (and the fact that Orochi could use energy from the Earth's core to power his attacks), it seems the Earth and moon are somehow deeply involved in the heroes' and monsters' powers. The situation is only getting worse. Add in the cubes and Blast spending the last two decades or so tracking them down but the monsterification is STILL accelerating out of control despite his efforts... Yeah, humanity is losing this fight.
  • Plus, it's not like the countryside is safe. Saitama had to save a fisherman from a monster fish in the countryside, while Sonic had to kill a monster bear that almost killed a hunter. The difference between "city" monsters and "country" monsters is that city monsters are reported right away. A monster in the country can kill lone travelers or entire families and go completely unnoticed. So your options are still in a city and getting caught in it when a monster that can destroy the shelters comes by or still in the countryside and risk being killed without anyone ever knowing. Nowhere is safe for humans.
  • Add in all the stress, anger, and terror, then you have more people becoming heartless or obsessing over something, anything to get out of their horrible life and, in this universe, obsession turns you into another monster. Just imagine one day your neighbor in the apartment complex turns into a monster and starts killing people, you're going to start distrusting shut-in weirdos, isolating people and breeding more anger, more hatred, and more people are going to try to escape from reality by obsessing over their hobbies or favorite food or their negative emotions... It's a vicious cycle.
  • It should be noted however that despite the series setting leaning to the crapsack, as you can tell by all that has been written before, its outlook leans more towards the idealistic end in Sliding Scaleof Idealismvs Cynicism. Thanks to Saitama and other good-natured heroes around, the world is definetily World Half Full.
• The Ninja Village is actually a facility that turns young children into emotionless killing machines for the Underworld. A single day consists of 72 hours, only 6 of which are allocated for sleeping. They were kept alive through special drugs, which also prevented them from committing suicide. It almost sounds like they wanted them on the verge of death at all times... which is a known method of breaking limiters.
• Part of Metal Bat's deal for joining Neo Heroes is them giving protection to his sister and cat. However, considering how shady and corrupt Neo Heroes truly is, he may just have unintentionally given them hostages to use against him.
  • Or worse, they could be in danger of, or have already been converted into cyborg puppets.
• During Saitama's battle with Cosmic Fear Mode Garou, Saitama appeared to be fully intent on killing Garou, and he even said that Saitama will continue to grow stronger until one of his punches eventually kills him, implying that he's not strong enough to do so yet... And then God effortlessly kills Garou once he surrenders. This could mean that even at the (current) peak of his power, Saitama is still less powerful than God, and not by a small margin. Considering his track record so far, that's not a good look for humanity.

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